Through Her Eyes
by Wetstar
Summary: Crystal Ryans' older brother Marvel was killed in last year's Hunger Games. Now there are rumours of rebellion, and secrets lurk around every corner. As Panem is launched into civil war, Crystal has to decide which side she's on, and make some of the hardest decisions of her life. It's a lot for a preteen girl to take, especially when everyone around her keeps dying.
1. Victory Tour

**I cannot tell you how freaking excited I am to post this! I have been waiting to write this for LITERALLY a year. It's somewhat a sequel to The Boy From District One(unfinished) but not really. It takes place afterwards, with the same characters, but doesn't have much to do with The Boy From District One. Anyways, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer; Don't own THG. Do own Crystal.**

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and my brother's murderer is coming to town.

Fuck my life.

Don't act so surprised to see a ten year old swearing. My father taught me. Lynx Ryans. An arrogant stuck up prune.

I guess I should introduce myself first. My name is Crystal Ryans. As stated before, I'm eleven years old, and have light brown hair and blue eyes, and like my dead brother, I tower over everyone else my age. I live in District One, and today's the day that the victors of the 74th Hunger Games stop by. That's right. _Victors. _As in plural. The star crossed sluts won. Stop complaining about my language, it's really not that bad.

I've mentioned my dead brother? Good, I hate it when people forget about him. Marvel Ryans. He died six months ago. Katniss Everdeen shot an arrow through his neck. He protected me from our father. No one remembers him like that. They remember him as the boy who killed Rue Haynes, the twelve year old that Everdeen was in an alliance with. I miss him more than I've ever missed anyone before.

Next is my mother, Gem Ryans. The victor of the 49th Hunger Games. She's been having more breakdowns now than she was before Marvel died. A few weeks after he died, she found out that she was pregnant. And that tore her apart even more, because she feels like the child's just a replacement. It's due in a few months time. Sometimes she's perfectly fine though, and we talk like we used to. She told me how there's talk of rebellion because of Everdeen and her star crossed lover. She says that if there is a rebellion does happen, I should grab her old knife vest from the cellar and use it. I always just rest my head on her shoulder and tell her that I will, and that I'll protect our district from everything.

The other districts may hate One, but we love it.

The last member of my family is my father, Lynx Ryans. Marvel said that he used to be alright. That he was a good father once.

_"And then one day he just stopped?" I ask._

_ Marvel shakes his head. "Not exactly. You know how you got your middle name, right?"_

_ "Aunt Lyric." I nod._

_ "Well she was Dad's little sister. One day, she was out at night, and the Peacekeepers were hunting Mighty Claws."_

_ "The psycho?" We had all heard of Mighty Claws before. He got his name because all of his victims were clawed up. He never killed any of them though._

_ "Yeah, the psycho. Anyways, they were hunting him, and saw Aunt Lyric in the shadows. But they couldn't see any of her features. They couldn't even see that she was a girl. They shot her anyways. _

_ Dad was pretty angry about this. He spent a lot of time away from home. Believe it or not, before Aunt Lyric was killed, he had never touched a drop of alcohol. He did after though. Mercury finally convinced him. And after that, he was never the same again. And then you were born, Crys, and for a little while, he was alright. He has those times still. Where he's _him._ But they're rare."_

But I hardly ever see him as _him._ He's been even worse since Marvel died. If he weren't Lynx, I'd say he blames himself.

I shake myself out of my memories and head downstairs. Jewel and Opal said they would walk with me to the square. Jewel has to stay behind the ropes with the rest of the "public," but Opal and I stand right below the stage as "Family of the Fallen." Opal's older sister, Glimmer, was Marvel's district partner. She might be four years older than me, but she gets what I'm going through. Jewel's older than both of us, the same age as our siblings, actually. She and Marvel dated once, but they broke up months before the reaping. Now she's a good source of comfort. Unlike Orion, Marvel's best friend, who I haven't heard from in months.

Opal looks up as I come down. "You ready to go?"

"As I'll ever be. Mom and the rest are already down there then?"

Jewel nods. "You know the rules Crys. Victors always get there early. But they'll blend in with the rest of us, and Gem'll stay with you and Lynx."

I nod and we head out the door and down the path that connects the Victors' Village to the rest of District One. Peacekeepers usher Opal and I away from Jewel, and then away from each other. We stand on different sides of the aisle, Opal and the rest of the Tyri family on the girl's side, so that Katniss can tell which family is which. Not that she wouldn't be able to by our looks. Opal's almost identical to her sister, just three years younger, and I share my brother's hair colour.

The mayor taps the microphone, and it's squeal echoes throughout the square. I wince slightly. He clears his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, the victors of the Seventy-Fourth Annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark!"

The doors behind him- the same doors Marvel went through after he was reaped- open with a creek, and _they _walk out. Mellark, glancing around as quickly as possible, obviously taking note of as many things as he can. His blue eyes land on me, and linger for a few seconds, before looking away again. And Everdeen. She stands tall and proud, gray eyes looking straight ahead, as if she's too good for us. Bitch.

The mayor starts in on his long speech, the same one he does every year. Everdeen's eyes flicker over to him when Marvel's name is mentioned. I clench my fists at my side. That bitch! She didn't even know his name and she killed him! Opal glances over at me and shakes her head slightly, silently telling me that it's not worth it. And she's right. It's not worth anything. Everdeen herself isn't worth anything.

She's just the bitch that killed my brother, and turned my life upside down, while all the while causing rumours of an uprising to start being whispered.


	2. Training for the rebellion

I pull my hair into my usual two braids and mentally prepare myself for tonight. I have to be extremely careful, and it's probably the most illegal thing I've ever done in my life. Opal and Jewel told me that a bunch of kids are meeting up at the training center to get ready for the rebellion. We're Careers, so we already know how to fight, but we want to plan out strategies and such for when the rebellion happens. Technically, it should be _if _the rebellion happens, but anyone with eyes can tell that it will happen no matter what President Snow tries to do to stop it.

I climb out my window into the apple tree that's in our front lawn. Marvel loved the tree. I remember sitting among the branches and eating the apples with him and Orion during the summer. I climb down slowly, dropping lightly to the ground before glancing around for Peacekeepers. I can't be followed. There aren't any, so I head down the path that connects the Victors' Village to the rest of District One.

One's pretty quiet right now, the shops that line the main street all closed up, lights out. The training center still has a few lights on though, and I head inside.

Most of the center looks like a normal school. Lockers where you can ditch your training gear, classrooms where you learn strategy and about the past Games. My favourite Games are a tie between the 55th and the 60th. The 55th Games were exciting, and as for the 60th, I liked the caves that the Games were in. Maybe I sound sadistic, having favourite Games, but you kind of have to. It's part of the life I was raised in.

At the far end of the school, there's a huge room that serves as our training room. It's filled with any type of weapon you could think of. They all are padded and/or have soft tips, so you can't do any actual damage. Still stings like heck when you're hit in the face with a sword though.

I enter that room now, and try not to grin when I see how many kids are there. Most of them are older, probably about seventeen or eighteen, but there are still plenty of kids under sixteen. I'm probably the youngest though, since I get more than a few stares as I head over to the knives.

I pick up an average sized knife, feeling the weight of it in my hand. Marvel always teased me for liking knives, since it's the same weapon Mom used. He said that I always did take after her more than Dad. I never told him, but sometimes I think that he had more Mom than I do, and that between the two of us, I'm more like Dad, despite that he shared Dad's features. I point the blade of the knife at the center of the target, closing one of my eyes to focus. Once I speed up, I keep my eyes open, but I like to start slow.

Before I can release the knife however, an arrow whizzes past my ear, piercing the dummy directly where the heart would be. I spin around to see a thirteen year old boy with dirty blonde hair grinning at me, bow in hand. He gives me a quick wink before heading a few targets down and practising his shooting.

I turn back to my target. _Focus._

"Crystal!"

The knife goes spinning out of my hand, completely off course, barely clipping the side of the dummy before burying itself in the wall. I can hear the blonde boy's laughter as I turn to face Jewel. "What is it?"

"Come with me."

I follow her over to a group of three teenagers, only one of whom I recognize. Orion Westun. He's staring at the ground, avoiding my eyes as always. I wish he would talk to me. I miss him. Beside him is a sixteen year old girl with curly black hair and an eighteen year old boy with spiky blonde hair

"Crys, you already know Orion. And this is Ruby Oryne, and Leo Anderson."

Ruby smiles and me and holds out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Crys."

I shake it. "Nice to meet you too."

Leo's frowning at me. "How old are you?"

"Ten. But I'll be eleven in a few weeks."

"That's a little young to be fighting in the rebellion..."

"You think so? Well guess what? When the Peacekeepers are shooting at us, they aren't going to care if they're killing a man or woman, a victor or civilian, a child or an adult, young or old, they're not going to give a shit. So why not prepare me for that? And I'm going to be fighting no matter what, so wouldn't it be better if I was already used to how you all fight?"

He looks slightly taken aback, and Jewel smiles slightly. "What'd I tell you Leo? She's a fighter."

Leo sighs. "Fine, let her fight. But she'd better be careful when the time comes."

* * *

When training's over, I search for Orion. I finally spot him once we're outside. I follow him down the street that leads towards his house. "Hey! Wait up!"

Either he doesn't hear me, or is still ignoring me. "Hey! Orion! Westun!"

Still no answer. I glance around to make sure that there aren't any open shop windows nearby, before bellowing, "ORIONIS!"

He turns around. "It's Orion."

"Really?! After not speaking to me for _months_, that's all you have to say to me?!"

He sighs, running a hand through his blonde hair. "What did you expect me to do Crys?"

"I don't know! Maybe _be there for me?!" _

"I couldn't."

"Why the hell not? Seriously! Give me one good reason why you couldn't've been there for me!"

"Because you're too much like him!" he yells. I'm startled and stare at him for a minute. He stares right back, breathing heavily. When he talks again, his voice is filled with sadness. "What was I supposed to do Crys? When every time I looked at you I saw my dead best friend? I did the only thing that I could think of to do, which was to distance myself as far from you as possible. It was stupid, I know, to leave you on your own. But Jewel said she was keeping an eye on you, she said she would tell me if you got bad. I figured that you were doing alright, so I tried to be alright as well."

"Did it work?"

"Not at all." Orion sits down on one of the benches that line the street. "I missed you as well as him. I missed the obvious things, like talking to my best friend, and hearing you laugh, and I missed the smaller things, that I didn't even think I would miss, like listening to the leaves crunch under our feet when we walked home from training. Some of the things I missed were just plain stupid. But I missed you both so, so, much. And now you're training in the rebellion, and I can't protect you from that, Crys, no matter how hard I try. You're going to fight no matter how much I try to convince you not to, and I can't stand the thought of losing you as well."

"But you won't. I can fight, Orion. I'm good at it. And with a bit of extra training on the side, I'll be really, really good. I could survive the rebellion."

"I know you can fight. I've seen you in training. But we'll be up against Peacekeepers. Swords are no match for a gun."

"It's a good thing I use knives, then."

"Be serious Crys! This isn't a fight like the ones we do in training! This is real!"

"I know. But I have to fight it. I have to."

Orion sighs again. "I know. Just pay attention when they teach guns and arrows, okay? Those are the only weapons that we can easily use from the top of roofs and such."

"What about knives and axes? And don't think that I don't know that you'll be carrying a sword the whole time."

He shrugs. "Those are useful too. Knives and axes are distance weapons. But they're not as controlled from up high. And swords are good for sneaking up behind someone, but they're useless from far away."

"If I promise to pay attention and be careful, will you stop worrying about me so much?"

Orion smiles sadly at me. "Oh Crys, I don't think I'll ever stop worrying about you. But yes, if you do that, I'll be a bit more reassured."

"Then I promise." And with that, I head back towards the Victors' Village.


End file.
